Sunset at the Beach 

Editor: Here we have what seems to be an oil painting titled "Sunset at the Beach" by Barrington Watson. I am just immediately drawn in to how he creates an effect that reminds me so much of Impressionist landscapes using oil paint. The women in this composition give it a lively, youthful kind of spirit, which is quite different from some sunset landscapes I've seen. What resonates with you most about it? Curator: Well, beyond the dance of light that certainly nods to Impressionism, I find myself captivated by the implied narratives. Who are these girls? Where are they going? The sunset is less a spectacle here, more of a silent witness. There is a definite air of…nostalgia, perhaps. The modern landscape in the Caribbean post colonial area and what its implications can reveal… How do you see this as being ‘modern’? Editor: That's a great question. I think, seeing as Watson was considered one of the great Jamaican modernists, it makes me question: Can post-impressionism in that specific place at that time make it more Modern by definition? I mean, he probably was influenced, but maybe that's just what happens when two great art traditions find each other... But this nostalgia—do you think he felt this as a post-colonial subject looking back? Curator: Ah, so you feel the conversation between the global north and the global south, I agree, it resonates within a language of finding something NEW at this nexus of these forces. Interesting! Perhaps, and I’d hesitate to be too definitive. We, as viewers, also bring our own nostalgia, our own longing for simpler times onto it. We must remember this dialogue that we engage in. The painter has set the scene and, with some suggestion, we create what we are meant to learn from it. What do we create and impose in the work? What’s your sunset to these girls? Editor: Right! This is good for me to know! Well, thank you so much. It makes me realize just how much context fills up art sometimes! Curator: Yes! And you in turn, made me realize there's always more beyond what I can bring from experience... another beautiful element in this dance we engage with these landscapes and genre paintings!